Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
After testy exchange, Caleb Porter clarified unprompted postgame comments about 2021 Revolution
Embroiled in an unnecessary controversy of his own creation, the embattled New England head coach eventually shared his side of the story.
While answering a question about the impact of newly-returned Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner following a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday, embattled New England head coach Caleb Porter took an unexpected stroll down memory lane.
He referenced Turner’s heroics for New England in 2021, when the former undrafted free agent rose in stature to become MLS Goalkeeper of the Year while the Revolution simultaneously marched to a then-record 73 points in the regular season. The team fell short in the playoffs, but won the first Supporters’ Shield in club history.
And while Revolution fans remember that year with a level of reverence — as a roster that featured Turner (who used his performances as a springboard to become the starting U.S. goalkeeper), the league’s MVP in Carles Gil, Canadian international Tajon Buchanan, and prolific forwards Adam Buksa and Gustavo Bou — Porter initially appeared to characterize it in different terms.
Advertisement:
Asked about Turner’s performance in the crucial win over the Crew, Porter began by speaking about the current state of the team in 2025.
“This is a sport where the margins come in the form of the boxes,” he said, referencing the 18-yard box around the goals. “I’ve said it all year. We’ve been pretty good, box to box. We’ve been in every game, and that’s the broken record, and people don’t like hearing that, but that’s a reality. We have been in every game against the best teams in the league, whether you’re talking about Miami, Nashville, we’re in those positions. We’re in and around the goal to score, and we’re in and around the goal to stop goals. And Matt Turner, he swings the margins.
Advertisement:
“Just like in ’21, he swung the margins,” Porter said of Turner’s play in 2021. “I was on the other side. We’d play New England and you’d say, ‘They’re not that good, and they don’t really dictate the game.’
Porter was then the head coach of the Crew, who were defending MLS Cup champions.
“But Matt Turner would stand on his head and stop goals and keep [the team] in the game,” Porter added (referencing a hockey expression for a goalie playing well), “and then Bou or Buksa would find a goal. And that was what happened.
“Was it great soccer? No,” Porter remarked, “but the margins come in the boxes and the personnel.”
The comments quickly made the rounds in Revolution channels on social media, with the fans clipping and sharing the specific portion of the press conference video in which Porter discussed the 2021 team.
Given the current state of the club — New England is eight points below the playoff line with seven games remaining, and one of the club’s supporters’ groups (“The Rebellion”) recently called for both Porter and sporting director Curt Onalfo to be fired — the reaction was predictably negative.
On Tuesday, while answering a question about the team’s upcoming Saturday matchup against Charlotte FC, Porter (seemingly aware of the stir his earlier comments had caused) tried to address it.
Advertisement:
“I think our formula over the last three games has been a winning one, and that’s why we got two wins out of the last three. And you know, in [2021] that team had a winning formula,” he said. “That’s what I was saying.
“And we’ve adopted a similar formula with Turner in the goal as [the 2021] team did. Simple: Defend well, find your moments to score goals, and most importantly, win, which is what they did and that’s why they were the best team in club history.”
However, when asked follow-up questions about the topic, Porter took issue with the specific quotation of his words.
Here’s is a transcript of part of the exchange. It has been edited only to exclude redundant language:
Boston.com: You referenced the ’21 team and obviously the comments that you made in postgame on Saturday, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about that a little bit.
Caleb Porter: It’s what I just said. I just talked about it.
Boston.com: And just in a sense of you said they played a not great brand of soccer, but I know in the moment…
Porter: I did not say that. That’s…you’re putting words in my mouth. I did not say that. I said they didn’t dictate the game.
Boston.com: Well, you said, you know, Bou and Buksa would score. Was it a great style of soccer? No…but look, I know in the moment when you’re answering a question extemporaneously, you don’t always add all the nuance you want.
Porter: You’re putting words in my mouth. I did not say that. The words you’re saying right now, I did not say.
Admittedly, Porter did not say “style” in his initial quote, though he certainly used words — “Was it great soccer? No.” — to that effect.
Later in the press conference — after attempts were made to move on with another question about the team’s crucial upcoming home game against Charlotte, and the continuity of New England’s recent lineup — Porter returned to his earlier point.
“Everything’s good right now,” he said of the team. “We’ve won two of our last three, we know we have to keep winning. So, you know, again, people can come here and look for things and look for problems. There are no problems. You know, I don’t know why you’re doing that today.”
Advertisement:
The press conference eventually concluded with New England’s head coach making a terse exit.
Later, he offered to clarify his remarks.
“When you listen to it, I wasn’t bashing the ’21 team at all,” Porter told Boston.com of his Saturday presser. “In a lot of ways, I was basically saying forget whether it’s good soccer or bad soccer. It’s about winning. And that’s what we did in the Columbus game and that’s what the ’21 team did game after game after game.
“I was showing in that moment, if you listen to it, respect for Turner, the formula, the way they won games and that they didn’t [care] how it looked,” he explained.
“I basically was saying, if you look at the ’21 team, they won games and they didn’t do it by dictating the game, which is part of my quote.”
Porter noted that his intention in disputing that the team played “great soccer” wasn’t meant as a diss, but simply an acknowledgment that the 2021 team churned out positive results even if it wasn’t the most dominant, or the most aesthetically pleasing from a stylistic standpoint. There is truth to that assessment: In 2021, the Revolution won 18 games by a one-goal margin, an MLS record.
“I mean, if I would’ve said, ‘Was it great soccer? Who cares,’ then that would’ve been a whole different thing,” he said. “That’s more of what I meant. Like it doesn’t matter. Win the game. That’s all I meant.”
Unfortunately for Porter and the Revolution, this entire episode is ironically illustrative of why style can absolutely matter (even — and in some cases especially — in press conferences). The initial soundbite came in what should’ve been a celebratory moment for the under-pressure coach and his team. It was New England’s first regular season win in Columbus since 2012, and moved the Revolution slightly closer to the playoff line.
Advertisement:
Yet by referencing one of the most beloved teams in club history with, at best, confusing phrasing that was easily misinterpreted, Porter unwittingly and unnecessarily invited an already upset fanbase to further pile on.
An additional irony was that later in the Saturday press conference, he cited fans’ chants calling for his removal, but asked for support in the next home game.
“Obviously, we haven’t won enough games. I get it,” Porter said after the win in Columbus. “But I hope when we come back home, let’s just cheer these players on and give them a chance. Give these players positive energy. They need that. They’ll thrive on that, they really will.”
For a coach who is a two-time MLS Cup winner, and has extensive experience at multiple levels of the game, Porter has remained inexplicably unable to get out of his own way when it comes to messaging at various points in his two-year tenure. Saturday was simply one of the more egregious examples.
He earnestly and understandably asked for fans’ support in a pivotal moment, but his own words from earlier in the same press conference had already undercut the request.
So instead of talking more about the must-win game in the near future, the club — its fans, its media, and even its head coach — remained stuck on Tuesday talking about a past that continues to loom over a troubled present.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com